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South Shore Plaza
South Shore Plaza is a shopping mall in Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened as an open-air plaza in 1961; it was enclosed in 1976 and expanded between 1995–96. With 192 tenants and 1,586,446 sq ft (147,385.7 m2) of gross leasable area, the mall is the largest in New England in terms of square footage and is the 16th-largest mall in the United States. It is currently owned by Simon Property Group. As of 2019, the mall has 7 anchor stores which are DSW Shoe Warehouse, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Primark and Target. Previous anchors include Filene's, Filene's Basement, and Jordan Marsh. South Shore Plaza, a regional-class shopping venue, had no sizable competition in its vicinity. Dedham Mall (1960) {7.6 miles northwest, in Dedham}, Westgate Shoppers Park (1963) {8.6 miles south, in Brockton}} and Harbourlight Mall (1976) {4.5 miles northeast, in Weymouth}, were smaller, community-type shopping malls. In fact, the entire leasable area of the Dedham or Harbourlight Mall centers could have fit into the Jordan Marsh at South Shore Plaza with room to spare. History Opening and expansion South Shore Plaza originally opened in 1961 as an open-air plaza with a 120,000 sq ft (11,000 m2) Filene's and thirty smaller stores. It consisted of a main retail level and service basement. A 2-level (85,000 square foot), Boston-based R.H. Stearns began business October 30, 1962. A 300,316 sq ft (27,900 m2) Jordan Marsh opened in 1967. The center was enclosed in 1976 and saw additional anchors, such as Lord & Taylor in 1979 and Sears in 1980, when the mall reached 100 stores. The South Shore Cinema I-II-III-IV was shuttered in 1992 and demolished. It was replaced by the General Cinema Corporation'' Braintree 10 megaplex, which opened in May 1993. The theater was rebranded as an AMC venue in 2002. In 1995 and 1996, a second level was added, including the "Boardwalk Cafes" food court, and the Filene's store was expanded to include a new store. This nearly doubled the mall's size, giving it a bright and airy feel, largely because of abundant skylighting and spacious corridors. Also in 1996, the Jordan Marsh store was renamed Macy's. In 1998, Simon Property Group acquired the mall owner, Corporate Property Investors, and assumed management. Effects of Federated–May merger In 2005, May Department Stores, at the time the parent of Lord & Taylor and Filene's, was acquired by Federated Department Stores, the owner of Macy's. As a result, the Filene's store was briefly closed in March 2006, before using the space to relocate its Macy's store that May. The remainder of the Filene's stores were converted Macy's later that year. Federated sold the Lord & Taylor chain later that year and sold the vacant Jordan Marsh/Macy's space to Simon Property Group. Filene's Basement, one of the mall's former anchors, filed for bankruptcy protection on May 4, 2009. New York's Crown Acquisitions made a bid to buy Filene's Basement including their famous Downtown Crossing location which closed for reconstruction in 2007. The South Shore Plaza store in Braintree closed in December 2011. Redevelopment ]] A redevelopment opened on the former site of Jordan Marsh on March 26, 2010. The center now holds 2,165,000 sq ft (201,100 m2), making it New England's largest mall, and includes a newly constructed three-level, 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) Nordstrom, though the Jordan Marsh building was four stories. Simon Property Group announced on May 12, 2009 that they were in negotiations with the town of Braintree and Target to include a Target Store on the lowest level of the 3 level mall addition. Its grand opening was on October 10, 2010. Numerous high-end retailers have joined the mall in the Nordstrom wing, including Sur La Table, Juicy Couture, Vera Bradley, and Sephora. The mall also received new carpeting, wall decor, food court seating/televisions, and signage as part of the renovations. The parking deck bridges that once connected to Jordan Marsh have now been restored. In June 2011, Newbury Comics opened in the former F.Y.E, which opened in 1996. With this expansion, South Shore Plaza encompassed 1,589,000 leasable square feet and assumed the position of third-largest retail hub in Massachusetts (following the Natick and Northshore malls). In 2009, South Shore Plaza faced a new lifestyle-type rival. Stores at Legacy Place tential lifestyle-format competitor was put on hold, due to The Great Recession. Also in 2009, Circuit City, which was by the mall closed permanently. In April 2012, it was announced that a prospective Westwood Station {6 miles southwest, in Westwood} would be renamed University Station. The mixed-use complex was completed in March 2016. In 2017, the Irish clothing retailer, Primark, opened in the former top level of Sears. Anchors * Target (opened on October 10, 2010) * Nordstrom (opened in 2009) * Macy's (opened in 1996) * Lord & Taylor (opened in 1979) * Sears (opened in 1980, downsized) * Primark (opened in 2017) * DSW Shoe Warehouse Gallery Videos File:MALL TOUR 2017 South Shore Plaza (Braintree, MA)|Mall Tour File:MontgomeryKONE Glass Hydraulic Elevator - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The Main Elevator File:Crappy Schindler MT elevator at Macy*s (Formly Filene's) - South Shore Plaza - Braintree MA|The Macy's Elevator File:Schindler 400A MRL Traction Elevator - Nordstrom - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The Nordstrom Elevator File:Schindler Hydraulic Elevators - Target South Shore Plaza - Braintree MA|The Target Elevator File:Westinghouse Hydraulic Elevator - Lord & Taylor - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The Lord & Taylor Elevator File:Plot Twist! Awesome US Hydraulic Freight Elevator - Lord & Taylor - SSP - Braintree, MA|The Lord & Taylor Freight Elevator File:''Dilapidated Westinghouse Hydraulic Elevator - Sears and Roebuck - South Shore Plaza - Braintree|The Sears Elevator File:Cranky Westinghouse Hydraulic Elevator - Entrance to DSW - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The DSW Shoe Warehouse Elevator File:LOUD Schindler 321A Hydraulic Elevator - H&M - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The H&M Elevator File:Schindler 330A Hydraulic Elevator - Forever 21 - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The Forever 21 Elevator File:Montgomery KONE Hydraulic Death Trap Elevator @ Newbury Comics, South Shore Plaza, Braintree MA|The Newbury Comics Elevator File:EPIC MOTOR AMAZING Antique OTIS Hydraulic Elevator - Milton's - South Shore Plaza - Braintree, MA|The Milton's Elevator Photos Newbury Comics.jpg|Newbury Comics External links South Shore Plaza's Official WebsiteCategory:Simon Property Group Malls Category:Malls in Massachusetts Category:Shopping Malls Category:Malls in the United States Category:Malls that opened in 1961 Category:Largest Malls in the United States Category:Multi-Level Malls Category:Macy's-anchored Malls Category:Lord & Taylor-anchored Malls Category:Nordstrom-anchored Malls Category:Target-anchored Malls Category:Sears-anchored Malls Category:Former Filene's Basement-anchored Properties Category:Former Filene's-anchored Malls Category:Former Jordan Marsh-anchored Malls Category:Newbury Comics Locations Category:Cheesecake Factory Locations Category:Buffalo Wild Wings Locations